Fox Sparrows

Fox Sparrow in the snow --Central Park - 1/2o/09
photo by David Speiser www.lilibirds.com

In a report on eBirds last Saturday [2/6/10] birder Ben Cacase reported:
Two *Fox Sparrows* were feeding on handouts on Willow Rock near the Oven.

Between January and April, Fox Sparrows begin showing up sporadically in Central Park. These large birds with bright rufous breast streaks that converge into a big central blotch, are prize finds for the park's hardy winter birdwatchers. They [the birds, not, generally, the birdwatchers} are almost always found foraging on the ground, scratching with their feet among last year's dead leaves. And on warm sunny days in late winter they may be heard singing, "the richest and most melodious of all sparrow songs," says David Allen Sibley.in his field guide.